Thomas has to complete seven tasks, such as taking oil to a refinery, delivering
letters to the nearby city, or taking some children to the beach. You've got to
find the carriage first and reach your destination before sunset. On the easy
mode, you won't face any dangers apart from the odd train, and it's easy to
complete. However, the so-called normal mode sees you facing more trains, as
well as blocked tracks, and since it's far too difficult, you won't be playing
this game for too long once you've completed the easy mode. The graphics and
sound effects are mediocre, too, although the rendition of the theme tune on
the menu is welcome.

5

Enter the boxing ring and defeat six fighters (including one called Roland!) to
become champion and win the Amsoft belt. In each round, you have three minutes
to knock out your opponent. The graphics aren't bad and the fighters are large
and well animated. A jolly tune plays on the menu screen, but the game itself is
limited to a few sound effects, and some of these are rather poor, particularly
when one of the fighters is hit. Playing the game is quite frustrating; the
controls are awkward and punching your opponent is tricky. The collision
detection is inaccurate, and your opponent can randomly land a knockout blow on
you, regardless of how much energy you have.

4

Stranded at the bottom of the sea, you must find or construct a submarine that
will rescue you and take you back to the surface. The sea bed is littered with
objects that you can collect. Some of them are hidden from view by larger
objects that can be pushed out of the way. You will also find Eric the Eel,
who can squeeze into gaps that you cannot fit into – but watch out for the
octopuses, who will steal your oxygen tanks if you're not careful! This
isometric arcade adventure with some lovely graphics and a pleasant rendition of
a tune that will be familiar to British ears. However, the controls are awkward,
and it's quite difficult to work out what you're supposed to do with the
objects you can collect.

7

Once again, you must save the Earth from evil aliens. Flying over a blue
chequered surface, you'll have to destroy waves of hostile spaceships. Well, as
with many games containing "3D" in their title, we shouldn't expect much of this
game. First, it is very difficult to aim accurately at the incoming aliens
because the perspective is rather deceptive. Then, you have to collect fuel (by
firing at it!) very often, which makes your task even harder. You'll soon be
lost in a cloud of enemy bullets (or whatever it is), trying to find an oil
tank – and you'll press the CONTROL, SHIFT and ESCAPE keys!

3

This early Formula 1 game sees you racing around eight tracks. In order to
qualify for the next track, you must finish third or higher. After playing for a
while, it's clear that this is much more of an arcade game than a proper motor
racing simulation. Although you start on pole position on a grid of 23 cars,
other cars will appear randomly in front of you even if you're in the lead and
on the first lap! Despite this, it remains a fairly enjoyable game after all
these years, and you get a sense of speed while driving around the tracks.

7

It's Space Invaders in 3D, would you believe? The Quarks are invading
and you have to shoot as many of them as you can. You move your laser cannon
about a grid of squares and try to dodge the aliens' fire as they move slowly –
very slowly – left and right. It's really difficult to aim your laser at the
aliens and your laser bolts nearly always seem to go right through them. The
game is mostly written in BASIC and so it is excruciatingly slow, and the
graphics, sound effects, and of course the game itself, are all abysmal.

1

Hunt through three floors of a maze to find a key, then use it to disarm a stink
bomb (!), and return to your home base. There are seven keys in total, and you
must also beware of the bat that flies round each floor, although there is a
supply of grenades you can use to kill it. This game ranks as one of the worst I
have ever had the misfortune to play. It is horrifically sluggish, and pressing
keys often does nothing. The graphics are equally terrible, and the game is
extremely boring, anyway; playing it for more than two minutes will seriously
test your sanity!

0

The problem with most snooker and pool games is that you can't move around the
table, but you can in this game. You can take part in a tournament against
several other players, all battling to face the champion, Maltese Joe.
Alternatively, you can practice, or even try out fifteen trick shots – you
can design your own as well. The 3D nature of the game makes it a little
difficult to aim your shots, and it isn't helped by the other players being
pretty good. The graphics are blocky and a bit slow, despite the four-colour
mode being used, and there are hardly any sound effects and music, but it's
still not a bad game.

7

After the fighting of the Proxima war, the enemy has blasted tunnels in the
Quasar defence system. You have been sent to fly along these tunnels in your
Tarantula C1 spaceship and have to shoot all the enemy craft. It's tough going
right from the start – even with only one enemy coming towards you at a time,
you'll need to be alert. You'll soon find that it's really tough, and
soon you're overwhelmed; if you can survive for more than a minute, you're doing
well! It might be worth a few goes if you're looking for a very short game to
play, but there isn't any variety in it at all, and the tunnel is too narrow.

4

Most snooker games view the board from above. This one dares to be different by
viewing it from one end and adding some perspective. However, it just doesn't
work. Aiming your ball is like most other snooker games – you move crosshairs
about the table and fire. The perspective makes aiming the ball accurately
impossible, especially when you're aiming for a ball at the far end of the table.
It also uses only four colours, so working out the other coloured balls can be
tricky. The 3D graphics are a reasonable attempt, but I'll say again that it
doesn't work in a snooker game.